Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-10-29

w. H. Bishop, who visited the crater in
1882, says that up to Las Cruces the effort
is rewarded in a view of the kingdoms of
the world and the glory thereof" which
could not be obtained elsewhere; but
above this it has little more reward than
that of being able to boast of
it to your friends. Despite all
precautions, a few steps in the snow render
ones feet sodden and numb with cold
There was a painful slipping and fall
ing, and blood-marks left by I'M
gloyed hands. The grade is excess
i've, the top invisible, and the prospect
consists Of jagged snow-pinnacles without
cessation, an endless staircase reaching
into the sky. Sometimes in the sun all
these pinnacles glitter as if crusted with
diamonds, again thick fogs, like a gray
pail, cover everything. There can be no
| more casting yourself down to rest in the
warm scori;e. If you sit you are chilled;
yet you must rest continually. Every step
is a calculation and an achieyement-vou
calculate that you will allow yourself a
rest after ten or twenty more.
The smooth, cone-like surface is covered
with SHOWS of unknown depth, which have
been thawing moons and freezing nights
ever since the creation, may be. 1t is
slippery as glass, and being almost perpen-
dicular, would be insurmountable were it
not for the innumerable ice-columns every
| where projecting. One is constantly slid
ing backwards, but not more than a foot or
two before being brought to 4 stand-still
by one of these pillars. But though ex-
ceedingly laborious, there is little real
| danger in the ascent-if ones lungs and
limbs can endure it-therc being no ava
lanches and few crevasses.
Suddenly we come upon 4 black and
yawning gulf. Eureka The feat is ac-
complished-the crater is reached. 4
/ strange dizziness and a darting pain
through the temples combined with in
tensity of excitement, so overp0wered me
that | sank breathless in the snow, while
| the poems rolled me up in blanket and
baptized me with brandy in their Jealous
haste. But Mrs. Pierce-lny brave and
| irrepressible " Betsy "-succumbe to no
such weakness. Standing at the very
mouth of old Talac, the god of storms"
with his hot and suIphurous breath upon
her, she celebrated the victory bydscharg-
ing the six chambers of her revolver.
which created such conclusion in the era
ter that great stones rolled down its sides
and the reverberations were deafening.
Of all the wandering millions since this
weary world was young, few feet have ever
reached this spot, and of these few not
many have been women's.
Think Of it-over three and half miles
in mid-air, half mile above the linton
/ ,,,,naa1a Oc Mot
mountain in Europe lacks over two thou
sand feet of being as lofty as Popocatapetl.
OF course the chief object of interest on
top of the volcano is the crater. Imagine
| the interior of mountain literally blown
out by an explosion, to the depth of 1900
! feet, leaving 4 narrow rim on It's inside
surface, over which the sea of snow curIs
higher than a mans head | looked over
| the dizzy brink in mute establishment. A
vast cavity, unsupported from the outside.
at least a mile across, sank away at my feet,
rock-ribbed, ragged and torn along its pre-
! cipitous sides. Out of the orifice in its
| deep and dismal bottom, rose lets of steam.
putting and blowing in the dead air. A
workman who had wrought in the crater
told me that the fitmeroS, or steam-vents,
instead of being a foot in diameter, as thew
| appeared, measured from II to IS feet.
The vapor pouring out of these holes is
| highly impregnated with sulphur, which
is deposited on the rocks and in the soil.
furnishing an inexhaustible supply of this
valuable mineral. The crane and rigging
! for lowering the workmen into this inferno
consists Of a strong beam projecting few
| feet over the abyss; over a pulley in the
end runs long rope, with loop in the
lower end. The person wishing to descend
stands in the loop, holds the rope in one
hand, and with the other manages stick
to protect himself from injury by swinging
against the rocks. Two poems let the rope
run slowly over the pulley, and the descent
occupies about fifteen minutes
The bottom of the crater is covered with
scori@, which glitters with various colors.
In one place is stone, so large that a man
can stand upon it, which rises and falls as
it feels the effect of the subterranean
vapors. At the lowest point is a lake, the
water of which has an acid taste. The
edge of the water is composed of immense
boulders Of periphery and basalt, and one
may descend some distance on foot by an
icy pathway leading downward to the huge
rock which supports the maJacatc or ma
chine for lowering the workmen.
Since the mountain has been giving out
its sulphurous breath for unnum6ered CEN
turtles, the amount already existing is be-
yond estimation, and something like Il
ton is daily deposited. 1t would hardly
be an exaggeration 10 say that the upper
part of the mountain is an immense block
of sulphur, inclosed in Il shell of rock few
yards thick. Three qualities of sulphur
are obtained by the operations here The
best is almost chemically pure, and is OBJ
tanned at the resperados or steam-vents;
thence it issues in liquid state and hard
ems as it cools. The other two qualities
are known to the trade as ''rich" and
pure sulphur ore. The former yields
from 81 to 81 per cent of pure sulphur the
latter about 50 per cent. The process used
in its publication is that of Michel. Dis
tillation takes place at Ilamacas in half
cylinders, which serve as retorts One
who has stood upon the brink Of that crater
can never forget the awful silence that
broods over the scene of desolation.
FANNIE B. WApD